This is not the date I wanted.

Realizing Meng Yue's identity as a thief, Shizhi certainly couldn't tell the reason for his refusal. Feeling the majesty emanating from the city lord with a "?" look on his face, Shizhi, who had never disobeyed his father since childhood, was so nervous that he could not speak clearly.

The city lord obviously didn't have the patience to wait for Shiori to finish his lie, and waved outside.

Origami, who had been waiting outside, walked in step by step and poured out all the books that Shiori had hidden in the secret compartment of the bookcase in front of Shiori.

“That’s the reason!”

"This is... my concubine..."

Looking at Shizhi's increasingly paler cheeks, the city lord sneered.

"I was wondering why those annoying flies have been making so much noise in the courtyard recently. It turns out they are looking for a chance to confuse my daughter. - Tobiichi! Before Orihime gets married, strengthen the security around Orihime. If those petty thieves plan to break in, kill them without mercy."

"Understood!" Origami nodded, her eyes revealing a terrifying chill, "I will clean up all the pests that approach Orihime-sama!"

"Wait! Father, stop! Lady Mengyue...Mengyue is my friend, I am willing to marry her! Please don't hurt Lady Mengyue!"

After hearing this ruthless order from his father, Shiori kept crying and begging the city lord to withdraw the order.

However, when the city lord with a puzzled look on his face said lightly "The princess is tired" and ordered the guards to forcibly take her back to the room, she felt a chill in her heart.

Afterwards, Gokawa Shiori's world was completely isolated from the outside world.

The usual tea art and flower arrangement classes were all suspended, and meals were only served through the window. Apart from the guard Tobiichi Origami who would occasionally greet him politely, he had never come into contact with anyone.

If he hadn't watched the sunset and the moonrise through the only small window, Shizhi wouldn't even be able to tell how long he had been imprisoned.

It is obvious that the city lord intends to imprison Shiori completely before Shiori officially gets married.

"I have become a complete 'bird in a cage'."

Shiori said to himself somewhat self-deprecatingly.

The day of marriage is approaching. However, Shizhi has no time to think about it.

The complete information ban made Shizhi lose all channels to obtain external intelligence.

The silence in the room filled the ignorant Shiori's heart with fear.

Did Lord Meng Yue not break into the castle because it was too fortified? Or was he caught and executed by my father? Obviously, if he had just obeyed at that time... nothing would have happened.

Fear, anxiety, powerlessness, regret - Shiori lost a lot of weight.

Now Shizhi just keeps praying that Mengyue will never sneak into the castle.

Then, one night, a knock on the door sounded beside Shiori's ear.

"Orihime-sama, it's time for dinner."

"I'm not hungry, just leave it there."

Normally, the servant would just pass the dinner through the window and leave. But after Shiori refused, a teasing voice came from the other side of the door.

"Oh my, my lady Orihime, how can this be allowed? If a girl in her growing period doesn't take good care of her nutrition, she won't be able to become a top-notch beauty in the future."

"Eh?"

Shizhi looked up in surprise. The door that was originally locked had been pried open at some point, and Mengyue, dressed in servant clothes, waved at Shizhi with a smile on her face.

A glimmer of tears welled up in Shiori's eyes.

"Lord Mengyue..."

"Hey, don't cry. You won't look good if you take off your makeup~"

"Wuwu... don't... bully me."

After a dissatisfied retort with a crying voice, Shizhi finally couldn't hold back his tears. He clung to Mengyue's arm and cried.

Mengyue smiled and sighed, not caring about her wet clothes, and gently stroked Shizhi's head.

"It's okay. I'm here."

"Lord Mengyue, I! I..."

Shizhi felt that he was so hypocritical and selfish. He had been praying that Mengyue would not appear until the last second, but when he really saw Mengyue, he just wanted to lean on him and cry to him about all his troubles.

"Oh my... No wonder the layout of the city feels so strange. So this is what's going on..."

After understanding the whole story, Meng Yue held her forehead helplessly. He used his daughter as a marriage tool to exchange for a powerful backer, and ordered Shizhi to kill all of them to destroy his luck. It must be said that the style of the lord of Tiangong City is really a bit of a hero.

As for the chosen target, Kannazuki Kyohei... Mengyue had actually seen him before. That guy does have extraordinary abilities in martial arts and military affairs, but considering his personality... anyone would stay away from him.

"Lord Mengyue, please leave here quickly. If you are discovered by Yuanyi's attendant, you will definitely be executed. I am willing to this marriage, please don't worry about me anymore... It hurts."

"How can you willingly marry someone you've never even met? If you saw him in person, you would immediately retract that lame lie."

After Mengyue gave Shizhi a stab in annoyance, she sighed.

And his whereabouts...had already been discovered long ago.

With a "whoosh", a sharp knife light flashed behind Mengyue without warning.

Meng Yue didn't look back, she picked up Shi Zhi and jumped, dodging the slash at the last second, then tapped the wall with both feet and did a backflip. Amid Shi Zhi's screams, she landed directly outside the room.

Meng Yue turned around and cursed at the people in the room.

"Really? Using the sword-drawing technique to attack someone from behind without any defense is not a samurai style. If you hurt the daughter of the city lord, you will have to commit seppuku to apologize."

After putting away the samurai sword that had beautifully cut the tea table and tatami in half, Tobiichi Origami's face remained calm without any hesitation as she answered.

"Don't worry. My sword was only aimed at the filthy pests that approached Orihime-sama. If you had just stood there quietly, I could have ended your life without even spilling blood on Orihime-sama."

"…What terrifying self-confidence."

Meng Yue felt cold sweat on her forehead. If the other party's words were spoken by someone else, Meng Yue would laugh at it as a joke. However, from the moment of actual experience just now, Meng Yue could tell that the other party was not lying.

"Attendant Tobiichi!" Seeing Origami pointing the blade at Mengyue, Shizhi didn't notice that he was being carried by a princess at the moment, and hurriedly explained, "Mengyue-sama is not a suspicious person. He is an important friend of mine. Don't hurt her."

"Orihime-sama...have you been deceived by this pest?"

After hearing Shiori's words, Origami unconsciously clenched the knife in her hand, and looked at Mengyue with a rare murderous intent in her eyes.

"One of the members of the recently rampant Yokai Thieves Group, the Nurarihyon - Ryougi Yumezuki, I will take your head without hesitation."

"Eh? Why did it become like this?!"

"My dear princess, please don't add fuel to my fire."

Looking at Origami Tobiichi approaching them with murderous intent, Meng Yue sighed helplessly when she heard the guards coming from the rear because of Origami's commotion.

Then, suddenly, under Origami's wary gaze, he smiled for no apparent reason.

pong——!

Suddenly, a cloud of smoke filled the entire corridor.

Poisonous smoke? No, it's just a smoke bomb...

When everyone was in a panic, Origami covered his mouth and nose at the first moment. After confirming the composition of the gas, he decisively opened the window to let the wind from the high altitude blow away the smoke.

However, when his vision returned to normal, Mengyue and Shizhi had disappeared.

Damn it...did he take advantage of the chaos to blend into the crowd and slip away? Origami couldn't help but grit her teeth.

"Chase him! We must rescue Master Shiori!"

……

"Hehe~ So what if I'm a first-rate swordsman? It's the same if I can't catch anyone~"

Running in the wide corridor, Meng Yue said with a proud look on her face.

"Lord Mengyue, please let me go quickly. You will definitely be caught if you do this."

In Mengyue's arms, Shizhi persuaded anxiously. Although Mengyue did escape Origami's pursuit for a while, Shizhi knew that from the top floor of Tiangong City to the gate, the city lord was full of soldiers. It would be harder than climbing to the sky to escape from this heavily guarded city with a weak woman like himself.

"That's true." Meng Yue shrugged without denying, "You are very heavy!"

"That's too much! The clothes I wear are just a little heavy, but I am not heavy at all!"

Hearing Mengyue making fun of him at this critical moment, Shizhi waved his little pink fist and hit Mengyue in embarrassment.

"We found the person! Someone come and save the princess!"

After her whereabouts were discovered, Meng Yue smacked her lips in annoyance.

He quickly ran to a window, and under Shizhi's puzzled gaze, he took out a rope from the window curtains and pulled it hard.

"Ahhhh! My foot! Something stabbed my foot!"

"There are ling (a trap used by ninjas to stop their opponents' progress) everywhere!"

"Trap! Stop, stop! No need to squeeze in, ahhhhhhhhhhh!"

Shizhi listened to the screams of his guards coming from behind and looked at Mengyue in surprise.

She never knew that there was such a trap installed in her home, and how did Meng Yue know about it?

Meng Yue gave a malicious smile.

Indeed, it was a very difficult task to take a weak woman out of this heavily guarded city.

However, this is based on the premise of sneaking in without any preparation.

"Sorry~ Actually, in the past few days, I have set up a lot of traps in this castle~"

"..."

———————Escape Theater————————

(Note: This paragraph is the result of the author's brain circuitry, after accidentally substituting the personality of another novel's character into the character of Meimeng. Please don't take it seriously~)

Shi Zhimengyue is on the run——

"I see! The little thief and Orihime-sama are here!"

"Next, I won't let you pass even half a step here, thief."

Mengyue looked at the warriors blocking the way ahead and kicked away the bucket on the side of the road.

"Why is the water so slippery?"

"This is not water, it's oil!"

"I can't stand anymore."

Mengyue was very calm and used the warriors lying on the ground as stepping stones to walk over.

Surround them and let Shi Zhimengyue escape——

"Found it. The thief is here!"

Mengyue said that after pulling a rope, a large amount of powder sprayed directly onto the guards' faces from the sky.

"What is this?"

After touching the ** that seemed to be stuck to his face, he didn't feel anything unusual, which made everyone confused.

"This powder... lime powder?!"

"Nani!?"

Mengyue poured a bucket of bath water on them, then ignored the cries of "Eyes! Eyes" from behind, picked up Shizhi and continued running.

Shi Zhimengyue is on the run——

"Found it, it's that little thief and Orihime-sama!"

"Be careful, this little thief uses very cunning traps. Many people have fallen for it, so be alert! Don't act rashly."

Looking at the guards who were alert, Meng Yue kindly reminded them.

"I'm telling you guys, it's very dangerous to continue standing there, you'd better leave quickly!"

"D-Danger?!"

"Don't panic! This is the enemy's trick to make us lose our composure. Ignore their lies, stay calm, and wait for reinforcements from the front and back..."

Then, before the leader could finish giving the order, the wooden board under their feet suddenly cracked, trapping all the guards in a hole.

"I've already told you that when I came here a few days ago, I sawed off all the wooden pillars underneath that location. Too many people are standing there, and it will collapse after a while. If you don't listen to the old man, you'll suffer the consequences~"

Looking at the guards who were stuck in the pit and trying to break free, Meng Yue shook her head helplessly, expressing deep concern about the intelligence level of today's warriors.

Shi Zhimengyue is on the run——

"Stop, stop it! You perverted hooligan, what are you going to do to me?! No, don't tear my clothes off!"